


Of Bowties and Parental Concern

by boats_birds



Series: KagaKuro Week 2016 [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Awkward Romance, First Dates, Fluff, M/M, in which Kagami and Kuroko can't get a clue, kagakuroweek2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 11:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8399905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boats_birds/pseuds/boats_birds
Summary: Just say hello, Kuroko repeats to himself. There's no reason to be weird about it. Kagami's the one who asked him on a date, so he obviously wants to be here. It's not like this is any different from any other outing they've had. It's just Kagami, the same guy that punched him in the face two years ago. Just say hello.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I just couldn't stop thinking about how if their first date was kinda awkward in this really endearing way, Kagami over-prepares by wearing a bowtie, and they somehow end up doing what they normally do after school anyways. And so this was born~
> 
> For the prompt: Firsts  
> Timeline-wise: Around their third year of high school

It should be easy enough to explain to his parents. It's not like he hasn't gone out with friends, or stayed out until it was well past dark just to practice basketball. He’s done these things a dozen times, will most likely do them again, and has never had trouble asking permission.

But this time it’s different. This time he doesn’t know how to approach it, doesn’t know where to even begin. Nervous doesn’t even begin to cover the tremble in his fingertips, but he hasn’t hidden anything from them since middle school, and he doesn’t plan on starting again. He just doesn’t know how to convey, how to articulate and express to them what this means to him.

Which could be why Kuroko suddenly brings it up while he dries the dishes his mother hands him, his father cleaning the kitchen and his grandmother sitting at the table.

“I’ll be home late tomorrow,” he says.

His mother doesn’t miss a beat. Barely even turns the blue eyes he got from her his way. “Okay, dear. Is it for school? Practice?”

“I’m going out with Kagami-kun.”

“Oh, is there a festival or something in town?”

“...On a date.”

There’s a deafening silence. Only broken by his mother dropping the plate she was holding in the sink and the casual sip of his grandmother drinking tea. He can feel all three of their stares on his back, and it makes his face flush pink as he continues to pointedly dry a rice bowl.

They already know Kagami, have met him on multiple occasions and understand just how much he’s changed Kuroko over the years. If Kuroko were being completely honest, they absolutely _adored_ Kagami. His father always doted on the tall redhead, while his mother always invited him to dinner and his grandmother often quickly extended the invitation to include _staying forever_. And Kuroko could tell Kagami adored them too, with how he traded recipes with his mother and actually watched baseball of all sports with his father.

But that didn’t mean they knew this was coming or would approve of it. Just because they understood how much Kagami has changed him, doesn’t mean they understand just how much Kagami means to him. Or how much he just really wants to hold Kagami’s hand sometimes and just _be_ with him.

His father is the first to find his voice, a smile spreading on his face as he goes back to sweeping. “Well, it’s about time,” he says, and Kuroko can’t help but notice his grandmother nod in agreement behind him. “You two have fun!”

Kuroko pauses, then turns to him suspiciously. “What do you mean, about time?”

“Nothing, dear,” his mother quickly answers. Then with a gentle smile, “Now, who asked whom?”

“...I have homework to do,” he says as he sets his dishrag aside. “Goodnight.”

He rushes to his room and quietly shuts the door behind him. Quickly changes into his pajamas and scratches behind Nigou’s ears before he settles into bed. He can’t help but restlessly gaze at the patterns in his ceiling, the posters on his wall, and the thoughts practically swirling around his head.

Then he turns to bury his face in his pillow and pretends his ears aren’t burning red, his smile so wide that his cheeks start hurting.

 

* * *

 

It should be easy enough for him to act normal. Kagami is his best friend. They know things about each other that he would never even think of, like how Kagami babbles when he lies, or how Kagami has a secret hoard of stuffed animals, or how Kagami hides when he's hurt so people won't worry. They know where they stand with each other, falling in line as light and shadow.

But this time it's different. This time he doesn't know how he should be, doesn't know where to even begin. Kagami's not just a friend now. Kagami's a romantic interest, a potential lover, a _date_. Their lines are redefining, changing into something completely new, and it leaves Kuroko shaken, disoriented.

Which could be why Kuroko is left speechless when Kagami approaches him outside the restaurant they agreed to meet at, eyes wide and hands anxious.

_Just say hello_ , Kuroko repeats to himself. There's no reason to be weird about it. Kagami's the one who asked him on a date, so he obviously wants to be here. It's not like this is any different from any other outing they've had. It's just Kagami, the same guy that punched him in the face two years ago. _Just say hello_.

Then Kagami is standing in front of him and Kuroko still can't say anything. A button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and a pair of his nicer jeans adorns Kagami's frame, in a way that makes Kuroko swallow. His hair looks like he actually attempted to style it, gave up halfway, and just shook it back out. And for some reason Kuroko can’t fathom, he even has a red bowtie wrapped around his neck.

Kuroko tugs at his own sweater vest self-consciously, and isn't sure whether he's enraptured because of how endearing Kagami looks, because of how ridiculous a bowtie looks on Kagami, or because it’s just _Kagami_.

A throat is cleared, the back of a head is scratched, and neither of them can look at the other. Kagami shuffles awkwardly and finally peeks up to briefly meet his gaze, red crashing on blue.

"...Hey.”

“...Hello.”

If there's one thing Kuroko didn't expect to come of this, it's for Kagami's face to explode in color at a simple greeting. And he certainly doesn't expect for his own to follow suit, flushing pink down the back of his neck. Kuroko's not sure how long they stand in silence, as he avoids Kagami's eyes and suddenly has no idea what they usually talk about.

"We should probably go in," Kagami eventually says, gesturing to the wide wooden doors.

"Oh." Kuroko blinks. "Yes, we should."

As soon as they step inside, Kuroko is immediately overwhelmed and obviously out of place. The first thing that greets him is a round bar, a rainbow of alcohols on a shelf behind it and an ornate chandelier above it. When he can tear his eyes away from that, he sees that the rest of the restaurant is just as impressive—an open kitchen with staff frantically rushing, a large dining area with dozens of tables, artwork and décor framed on all the walls around them.

Kuroko doesn't even notice the hostess approach them, his attention caught somewhere between the rustic tables and the glittering light fixtures. 

"Hello!" she chirps. "May I help you?"

Kagami steps forward and tugs at his bowtie. "Um, hey. I have a reservation? Kagami Taiga?"

The hostess smiles and bows. "Of course. Right this way."

She leads them further into the restaurant, past the bar with drinking patrons and down a step to an area cramped with diners and small talk. Waiting for them is a round table near the front window with cushioned chairs already pulled back for them, two champagne glasses sitting for their drink orders. There’s even a tealight in the center of the table, its quiet flame casting a warm glow over their silverware.

Kagami plops right into his seat, and it takes Kuroko a moment to realize that he should sit too. By the time he does, Kagami’s cursing under his breath and muttering something about “ _supposed to pull out the chair, idiot_.” The hostess mentions someone would come to get their order soon, then walks away, but Kuroko’s too busy looking at anything but Kagami to respond.

Because as he soon as he looks, he knows he’ll blush in full force and he’s not sure if he can handle that.

"So...” Kagami says, fiddling with the stem of his glass. “How was your day?"

Kuroko can’t help but glance up and tilt his head. "You saw me at practice today, Kagami-kun. Before we went home and got ready."

There’s a curse and a sputter as Kagami fumbles with his glass, nearly knocking it to crash in the floor. Then he quickly straightens back up, tugs at his bowtie again, and joins Kuroko in staring at the tables around them. It’s honestly an understandable reaction, given how practice went. Neither of them could concentrate, Kuroko couldn’t even pass to Kagami without sending the ball crashing into the nearest wall, and they nearly got triple training for the next two weeks from the coach because of it.

A hush falls over them, at odds with the bustle of conversation around them. Kuroko knows he should say something, anything, but all he can manage is to pluck at his napkin while he chases his own thoughts around his head.

How should he act around Kagami? How do people act during dates? Why is he acting so strange when it’s just Kagami?

“Would you gentlemen like to see our wine list?” a waitress asks.

Kuroko almost jumps out of his skin, not used to being caught off-guard by anyone, let alone being noticed when he’s sitting quietly. His eyes grow wide at the idea of drinking underage, but Kagami answers with no hesitation before Kuroko can even fully absorb the question.

“No.” Then clears his throat. “Uh, no thanks. Just water is fine.”

“Very well, sir,” she says. “Are you gentlemen ready to order?”

After their glasses are filled, orders placed, and a basket of bread set on the table, they both watch opposite sides of the room. Kagami absently drums his fingers next to his silverware, while Kuroko traces the rim of his glass. It’s not until neither say anything that Kuroko realizes how uncomfortable silence can make him.

What do they always talk about? They obviously talk, they spend nearly every day together, but what do their conversations consist of? Is it inappropriate to talk about basketball in this sort of situation?

"This place is very nice,” Kuroko says offhandedly, then nearly snaps his mouth shut with an audible clack. At this rate, he might as well be talking about the weather and the state of their country’s economy.

Kagami scratches at his cheek and finds a sudden interest in their neighbor’s salad. "It was, uh, kinda the first place that popped up on Google."

"Google?"

"Yeah, I…” Kagami hesitates, then mumbles, “I looked up Tokyo's most romantic restaurants.”

Another silence steals over them like the flush over Kuroko’s cheeks. He briefly wonders how Kagami could accuse him of being embarrassing, when the redhead was so very obviously much more embarrassing than Kuroko could ever hope to be. And Kuroko still can’t quite look at him, unable to make eye contact, which is a problem Kuroko never thought he’d have.

Said problem lasts up until their food arrives, when the waitress setting their plates in front of them with a smile and wishes for their enjoyment. Kuroko hesitates to begin eating. Because while his pasta dish looks incredible, the noodles steaming and slices of sea urchin sitting patiently on top, there’s something just a little wrong with their meals.

“Kagami-kun, is that enough food for you?”

Kagami blinks then looks down at his plate, like he’s surprised to find it there. He’d ordered some sort of steak dish that Kuroko couldn’t remember the name for. It covers half of his plate, a modest portion with a side of vegetables and sparkling water. A nice meal, one that Kuroko could even order for himself, but also one that he knows is not nearly enough for the black hole of Kagami’s stomach.

“...Yeah!” Kagami stutters. “Yeah, this is plenty. It’s fine.”

Then he starts digging into his dish with reckless abandon, in that same Kagami-fashion Kuroko has long been used to, and devours nearly half of it in less than a minute.

Kuroko absently twirls his fork in his pasta, the metal scraping noisily against porcelain. It’s not that the food doesn’t look delicious, or that he’s not hungry. It’s just that he can’t shake the feeling that Kagami is _uncomfortable_. The food obviously isn’t enough for him, so why wouldn’t he just say so? Not only that, but he can’t stop tugging at a bowtie he never wears, and he has nothing to say when usually every silence is filled with his loud voice and laugh.

He knows that it’s probably something else. Maybe the restaurant, or the day of the week, or even the weather. But inklings of self-doubt well inside him, and he can’t help but feel that Kagami might be uncomfortable because of _him_.

Because what if they weren’t ready to be something more? What if this date made Kagami realize that he didn’t like Kuroko like that? What if this changed their friendship into something unrepairable?

After a few moments of being lost in a cyclone of thoughts, Kuroko glances up to find Kagami staring at him with a look he doesn’t recognize. Neither are eating at this point anymore, the small tealight’s glow flickering shadows on their plates.

“This...isn’t any good, is it?” Kagami finally sighs, picking at his piece of bread with long fingers.

“I think the bread is very nice, if not a little dry.”

Kagami looks up at him through his bangs, red eyes pleading, and Kuroko knows he’s not talking about the food.

Another sigh, a painful smile. “Pretty sucky first date, huh?”

The immediate rejection, the fact that Kagami thinks he’s not enjoying himself, breaks Kuroko’s heart in ways he didn’t know it could crack.

Kuroko wants to tell him the place doesn’t matter. The restaurant, the food, the date—none of it matters. Kuroko wants to tell him that they could be at the same old basketball court, playing the same old mismatched one-on-one, and then take the same old path home and it wouldn’t matter. They could even talk about the weather if he wanted.

Kuroko wants to tell him that the only thing that ever mattered was that Kagami actually wanted to be with him. That he meant something to Kagami, and that Kagami meant something to him. That he likes Kagami, and as long as Kagami likes him too, then it’d be okay.

Instead, he settles for reaching across the table and rests his hand on top of Kagami’s, squeezing his knuckles gently. Kagami blinks in surprise, eyes flicking between their hands and Kuroko’s face. Kuroko squeezes harder until Kagami holds his gaze, blue burning on red, determined to convey exactly what all of this means to him.

“Not when it’s with you.”

Kagami’s eyes go wide, while his jaw goes slack. He opens and closes his mouth a number of times, but no noise comes out. It takes him a moment, just a moment. As Kuroko gets lost in staring at him, Kagami finally slumps, shoulders relaxing from their tense hold. Then he suddenly grabs hold of his bowtie with his free hand, wrings it loose and leaves it to hang around his neck.

And then Kagami grins. “So you wanna ditch this place and go to Maji Burger?”

If Kuroko loses his breath when Kagami smiles, he doesn't pay attention to it. All he can see in that haphazard stretch of teeth is a warmth so familiar that he nearly expects to hear the buzzer of a court echo in the distance. And he realizes in that moment, they're not redefining their lines into something new. They're just blending together, a mix of shadow and light. Taking what they already know and creating something amazing out of it, just as they always did.

Kuroko smiles in return and is already pushing back his chair.

“ _Please_.”

 

* * *

 

It should be easy enough to avoid his parents. He’s done it before on particularly rough days, when he doesn’t feel like talking, when he doesn’t want to worry them. He’s almost certain they notice him anyways, but decide to give him some space before approaching, which is what he needs once in a while.

But this time it’s different. This time he doesn’t know how to evade it, doesn’t know where to even begin. It would just be easier if they could wait until morning, when he wasn’t waging war with the butterflies in his stomach and his ribs weren’t breaking with each heartbeat. He just can’t focus when certain redheads are concerned, his thoughts scattered like embers from a wildfire.

Which could be why Kuroko runs into his mother as soon as he walks through the entryway, twin sets of blue eyes blinking at each other in surprise.

“Tetsuya,” she says with a kind smile. “You’re home later than I thought!”

He suddenly can’t bear to maintain eye contact with her, so he greets the cracks in the wood floor. There’s a pink flush on his cheeks, and while he hopes his mother doesn’t pay attention to it, he knows that she does. Distracting himself by fiddling with the bottom of his sweater vest, he clears his throat while his mother smiles wider.

“Did you have a good time, dear?”

Then he suddenly can’t bear to be in the same room with her. He ducks around her and takes off for his bedroom, before he loses his composure and what little control over his facial temperature he has. She doesn’t even try to stop him.

“We’ll talk later!” she calls after him with a giggle.

He’d rather not, not because he doesn’t trust his mother, but because he’s not sure he could make it through a conversation about this with his dignity intact.

Walking briskly through the house, he’s grateful that his grandmother is in bed by now, because he can already see her knowing smirk and hear her cackling teases. He’s so concentrated on how thankful he is that the elderly need more rest that he runs right into his father halfway down the hallway, twin expressions of mild shock startling at each other.

“Tetsuya!” his father greets him. “How was the date?”

And the word ‘ _date_ ’ sends him running past his father as well, not even stopping to mutter goodnight.

“I’m glad it went well,” he calls after him with a laugh.

He rushes to his room and quickly shuts the door behind him. Quietly slumps against the frame as Nigou pads up to him with a happy bark. He gazes blankly at his own room like he’s never seen it before, and tries not to think about how his parents trust Kagami so much that they automatically assume the date was good, even though he didn’t say a word.

As he slowly slides down to the floor, his mind spins with a carousel of memories.

Kagami being so thoughtful and endearing, if not a little awkward, and still so painfully Kagami. Kagami teasingly feeding him bites of french fries and stealing sips of his milkshake. Kagami holding his hand as they walked to Kuroko’s house, warm and nervously sweaty against his palm. Kagami looking like he’d pass out on the sidewalk when Kuroko stood up on his tiptoes, to the point that Kuroko veered at the last second to kiss his cheek out of fear for his health.

Then he buries his face in his own hands and pretends his whole face isn’t burning red, his smile so wide and his eyes so watery that he’s certain he’s never experienced happiness quite like this.

And he fails entirely to not laugh dizzily at the thought of their second date. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy KagaKuro Week, everyone!! It’s been a looooong time since I’ve wrote anything, and I’m so late that I’m starting when the week is practically over, but that’s nothing new~ Anywho! The plan this year is that all of my fics will be oneshots, and they can stand alone, but they can also be seen as a loosely connected chronological series! Also, I do still plan on doing a fic for every prompt, just during the extension and maybe a day or two after. Aaahhh, the life of a procrastinator...


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